Renegade
by Wayne7793
Summary: This is the story of a biomechanical man from the 23th century who rebels and travels back to 1973. He befriends an 11-year-old boy.
1. Chapter 1

**RENEGADE**

**CHAPTER I**

The forest is pristine, a thing of beauty. A deer sips fresh clean water from a brook, a cute fluffy bunny rabbit stops to lick its paw, grooming itself. A bird zooms lazily around, chirping in a fresh breeze. A few stray leaves fall off nearby trees, slowly circling in the gust of wind, lightly touching the water. The deer's ears perk up, she smells something, senses it on the wind. The rabbit stops, its nose wiggling, the ears tense, the eyes darting back and forth quickly, its heart racing! A quiet crunching noise is heard way off in the distance, another followed by another. The deer bolts, splashing water as it runs for its life. The rabbit follows suit, its fur tightened in fear. The birds disappear quickly, as a stomping noise gets louder. The line of trees are wrenched apart as a gray metallic shape rumbles into view, branches flying everywhere. The tank treads on the behemoth leave dark tracks up to the water, across its surface. A pair of mechanical arms and upper servo unit pivot back and forth, searching, searching….

The figure inside the metal beast, or what's left of it, a fraction of a face, the remnants of chest and neck, stand out as a reminder this thing was once human, but no more. The eyes are red and lit up, Christmas lights focused on their target, the face, impassive. The massive weaponry swivels to match the direction the eyes are trained on, the arms move independently, pushing aside foliage, ignoring the beauty nature once bestowed upon this region. Its primary target, its mission, nowhere to be seen. The online system quickly calculates this is a wrong direction, there are no tracks to be seen, no evidence reminiscent of bionic prey or human, for that matter.

The large bio-mech stops, pondering its options. A high-level digital query interrupts its tracking procedures, making the rolling death machine turn around and head off in a 90-degree direction. The rolling abomination rumbles through a second line of trees, ignoring the smashed branches and wreckage it is causing. A silver dot flashes in the sky, and jet thrusters are dimly heard. The machine rolls out into a more deserted region, trashed beyond imagination, more machines rolling, or walking slowly in all directions, scanning for targets. Small piles of rubble and mostly-buried pieces of metal dot the land, tiny reminders of what may have been here years, maybe eons ago.

A quiet region, recently untouched by machine hunter activity, hums with the activation of a silent launch pad. The circular grayish pad lights up, humming louder. A reluctant smaller machine-man lumbers out, looking in all directions. He seems to have intelligence in his eyes, but his humanity appears not much more than his captors. He looks around, his lip quivering, a single tear leaking down his dirty face. He closes his eyes, settling down to activate more controls on the pad he woke up. His remote access hums to life, several bleeps and smaller lights twinkle along his outer surface, and the pad hums louder, a slight shimmer seen rotating around its perimeter. The odd man-machine waddles up to and stops in the middle of the metallic pad. The shimmer intensifies and he winks out with a loud WHAM!, as more mechanical abominations find his location. A small missile enters the swirling center of the pad, but the shimmering vanishes in an instant, and the rocket explodes, leaving little evidence of the lit array that was winking mere moments earlier.

**CHAPTER II**

Billy was walking home from school when it happened - he realized he forgot his math book. He looked around, seeing the bus leave, after dropping him home from school. He cursed himself for being so forgetful. He figured even if he could run back the 4 miles to school, it'd be closed or dark by the time he got there, so he sighed and walked up his driveway, figuring he'd be in trouble tomorrow for not turning in his homework. He kicked a few pebbles and thought about running away, maybe joining a circus. That would be fun and they don't make you do math homework! He opened the front door, hearing his mom yell for him. Billy wandered into the kitchen, where his mom was making cookies. They looked awful good, and his tummy rumbled, "Can I have one, mom?" His mother stopped, looking at him, "No, of course, dingbat! If you got homework, you do that first, mister, then you can play. The cookies are for my book party later on this evening, so you stay out of them, hear me?" She pointed a finger at him, expecting an answer. He sighed, "Ok, sure…" and wandered into his room, slamming the door. He dug out his history book and flipped through the pages, randomly checking out pictures of ships and men, standing in old war poses, things like that. He hated studying, didn't see the point. His mind wandered, he liked robots and space ships, shooting lasers at aliens, that type of stuff. Why didn't they teach that in school?

A faint noise outside drew his attention, but he ignored it and randomly wrote dates and facts, trying to answer the tough questions the textbook asked of him. He finished 20 minutes later and put his books away and was laying on his bed, daydreaming when a louder noise stirred his curiousity. He got up, thinking someone was trespassing. He looked out the back window and saw nothing, but a strange glow caught his attention. He was thinking of asking his mom what to do, but decided to investigate himself. He snuck out the back window and ran across the backyard, to where the line of trees extended around his yard. He climbed over the fence and entered the forest beyond, looking back at his house. Billy wondered what was going on, maybe some kids pulling a prank, ready to pounce on him when he got deeper into the trees. He stopped and looked around, noticing how quiet it got. Billy looked at his watch, it said 4:40 pm. He thought for a moment and looked for the lights or any sounds, but it was quiet for a bit, then a new sound startled him, the sound of stomping feet, unlike anything he had ever heard of. It sounded like a very large football quarterback trudging towards him. He stopped and hid behind a tree and waited.

The stomping stopped and he waited some more before bravely heading towards the last noise he heard. He soon found a burned circle of brush and a few weird metal pieces of shrapnel. He paused to pick one up. It was very hot and he yelped and dropped it. The piece left a nasty welt on his hand, where he grabbed it! He sucked on the sore spot and looked around. A new noise to his left. Billy spun around and noticed a large shape, hiding in the bushes nearby. Whatever it was, it was calmly waiting for something, not moving, or not very much. He slowly approached the bush and the shape within it, pushing aside small branches. The shape retreated, hiding behind a large fallen tree and some stumps. The boy stared at the shape, wondering what it was. He continued inward, towards the stumps and fallen tree. The shape crouched motionless, no noise except for occasional humming and whirring. This was weird, thought Billy. What was this? He spoke slowly, cautiously, "Look, I know there's someone there. I won't hurt you. My name is Billy. Are you hurt?" The shape looked around and remained still otherwise. Billy smelled something weird, almost like blood and some oil mixed, "I think you're hurt. Can I help?" The 11-year-old wandered in some more, finally finding the hunched thing, who couldn't back up anymore. It was a strange sight, a large thick man-shape with metal parts, it didn't make any sense to Billy's little eyes.

He licked his lips, "What are you?" The whirring continued and a few buzzing noises emanated his ears. He paused, "Look if you're from the circus or some lab, I'd like to help." The man-shape paused, not knowing what to do. Billy cautiously approached closer, close enough to touch the thing's arm. It felt cold and slick, a little bumpy, with a sharp protrusion at one end. He stopped, puzzled, "What the hell?" The shape stood up, leaning on the fallen tree for support. It stood easily 8 foot tall, very broad, and the "face" could sort of be seen, shadowed in darkness. The eyes stared back at the little boy, the expression unsure. One leg stomped forward, scaring Billy. The boy backtracked and turned around, running. The stomping followed behind him, but he outran the pace. He made it back to the fence near his yard when he noticed he wasn't being followed anymore. He stopped and looked around, seeing nothing behind him. Billy sneaked back into his room, scared. His heart was racing, what was that thing? He finally heard his mom call him for supper, but he wasn't very hungry.

Billy went down to dinner and sat there, thinking about how aliens must have landed near his house. That had to be it! His mom looked at him funny, "You ok, honey? Usually you're scarfing all the food off your plate. Did you do your homework?" She came over and felt his forehead, "Well, you're not sick or feverish, you want to talk about it? Maybe got a bully or a girl after you?" She hoped the latter, he needed some companionship pretty badly, his new friends didn't hang out with him much anymore. He became rather withdrawn over the last few years, his dad's death probably a lot to do with it. She bit her lip, she was trying to raise him the best she could by herself. It wasn't easy, here in 1973, the women's rights movement really didn't create more jobs, but she got by on a meager secretary salary. She frowned, wishing she could do more for her little Billy. They quietly ate dinner together, and Billy left for bed quietly and early, most of his food still on his plate.

**CHAPTER III**

Billy woke up kind of early the next morning, before his alarm clock rattled off. He got up, got dressed and looked out the window, expecting a man-machine-robot to be peering back at him with those crazy eyes. It haunted him all night, he barely got any sleep. He kept seeing them every time he closed his eyes. He finally cried himself to sleep, wishing his dad was still around! He slowly got dressed and got some milk to drink from the fridge. He was a little hungry and a left over cookie in a pile sitting on the coffee table hit the spot. Billy wandered outside, it was still dark out. He looked at the wall clock. It read 5:15. He knew it was am and figured he hadn't slept through school. Oh, he hated going to school. He had no friends and he was starting to notice girls, but they seemed to ignore him. He hadn't had an episode with a bully in months, but was expecting anything to happen at any time. Billy rubbed the welt on his hand, it was a little sore and kind of red, a little swollen, too. He wondered if he imagined that scary man thing he saw, but a passing car, the newspaper dude, startled him, making him forget. He fell asleep and the school bus woke up later with a honk of the horn. Billy ran back, grabbing his books and lunch, barely getting on the bus, before the doors swung shut. He looked back and forth, not seeing too many empty seats. He sighed, finding one next to a pretty girl who was even shier than he was. She smiled and looked away. Billy thought she was very pretty, but didn't know her name. She probably thought he was full of cooties anyways. All girls did! He quietly sat on the edge of the seat next to her and looked down. He didn't notice the girl look back at him, a big smile on her face.

The day went pretty well, he even finished half his math homework and turned it in. The teacher looked at him placidly and clucked her tongue. She hated him too, he could tell. Billy slumped and wandered from class to class, ignoring most of the other kids. He bumped into someone on the way to his locker. It was the girl from the bus! She stopped and picked up her books and papers that were dumped on the floor. Billy stood there, looking at her pretty hair, and didn't say anything. He started to grab some stuff to hand back to her, and she smiled, "Thanks! You're Billy Patterson, right? I'm kind of new here. My name's Tammy, Tammy Witherspoon." She offered a hand, and he dumbly stared at it. She raised an eyebrow, "Are you ok? You seem kind of quiet." Billy looked up at her, "Would you believe me if I told you I saw an alien?" Tammy chuckled, "Is this a joke?" She started to turn around and Billy grabbed her arm, "No! Please, I can prove it. Where do you live?" She looked at him, wondering if he was playing a prank, "Look, I'm sorry I ran into you, but this isn't funny anymore. I have to go!" She yanked her arm away, walking down the hall. Billy looked at her back and down at the floor again, wondering why he couldn't say the right things to anybody.

The end of the school day bell rang and all the kids poured out, screaming and shouting. Bill slumped along, ignoring all the kids smacking him as they ran past him. He was still trying to figure out what he saw in the woods and couldn't make any sense of it. He mentally cursed himself for looking like a fool to a pretty girl on top of that! Well, he figured, it can't get any worse. As he walked out the front school doors, several kids were bunched together, one of them picking on another student. Billy saw them, "Oh, shit, the Landry boys!" and started to back-step into the school, but they spotted him! He made a run for it, quickly across the schoolyard, past his waiting bus. Billy didn't even notice the bus driver yelling at him. He was too busy looking back at the small group of mean looking kids yelling they were going to beat him up. Billy started getting tired, but barely made it home and had a good lead past the kids. He ran for the back woods, hoping to hide. He wondered if that man-thing was still there.

Two of the lead kids stopped, catching their breath. One held his hand up, "No, stop! We lost him, we'll catch him tomorrow. He owes us some lunch money anyways!" The kids turned around, each heading home. The three Landry brothers stayed together, with one smaller kid straggling behind them. One of the brothers kept tossing pebbles at the runt, making him flinch and sometimes cry in pain. A few other kids noticed them walk by, but kept their distance, the Landry boys were not to be messed with! They were the meanest strongest kids in school, and their cruelty knew no bounds.

**CHAPTER IV**

Billy ran into the forest near his house. He wandered around, going from tree to tree, bush to bush, looking for the crazy looking machine man, but found no sign of him or it. He stopped, catching his breath, his sides in stitches from running so hard. He sat down, against a tree, and closed his eyes. He could still see those wild eyes in his head, and they really scared him.

Tammy's pretty face and eyes also haunted him, that odd look as he was trying to convince her he saw an alien. He cried a little, wanting to die inside. He stopped sobbing and heard that weird mechanical whining noise again, far off in the distance. He got up, looking around, pinpointing where it was coming from. Billy slowly walked to the source, but the echoes were confusing him a little. He jumped when a bird whizzed up, chirping and scared sounding. Billy looked up, hearing more of those odd stomping sounds. The man machine stood right there, looking at him, just like before! Billy wanted to run, but noticed the trail of dark fluid from behind this poor creature. It was hurt! He knew it! He wished he had some bandages or alcohol or something on him. "Look, uh, whatever you are, I can see you're hurt. If you want, my mom might be able to help you. Would you like to come to my house and rest?" The man-machine spun back and forth, the face looking around. It looked down at him, and Billy could see a tear on its face. The huge servo arm spun out and folded in, pointing to its throat. It gestured a few times, then stopped, waiting for a response. Billy thought this queer, "Um, what do you want? I don't get what you're doing!" The thing seemed to shrug its mighty shoulders and wobbled forward slightly, almost collapsing. Billy stepped back and looked at more of it, "Mister, you don't look so good. Please, follow me, I can get you some help!"

The man thing slowly wobbled forward, determination in the face. It strode slowly after Billy, who kept looking back, partly to make sure he wasn't imagining this, partly to see if it (or he) was still following him. They made it to the fence and Billy remembered the storage barn in the back yard. He ran for it, gesturing for the machine to follow, "Here, you can hide in here!" The thing stomped forward, leaving odd compacted tracks in the yard. Billy wondered "How am I going to explain that?" Soon, the man machine was hiding in the storage barn, settled down and quieter, for now. It looked around, grabbing a rake, accidentally snapping it in half, quizzically looking at Billy. Billy slapped his face softly, "Look, don't go breaking stuff, be careful and please keep quiet! I'll get you something to eat, ok?" The machine tilted its head, but stayed quiet.

Billy ran in through the back door, stopping in the kitchen, "What on earth does it eat?" He had NO idea, but tried making a quick peanut butter and jelly sandwich, one of his favorites. He stopped long enough to notice a can of motor oil, in the closet, left from who knows when. Billy shrugged and grabbed it, thinking maybe it likes oil instead of sandwiches. He ran back to the shed, and the man machine was still sitting there, very quiet, its lit eyes very dim and looking straightforward. As soon as the boy slammed the door, the eyes woke up and trained on him. Billy slowly offered the sandwich, but got no response. He tried the can of oil, realizing her forgot to open it, "Do you like oil?" The man machine tilted its head again, no indication it knew what he was saying. Billy quickly found a can spout opener, and popped a triangle hole in the top of the oil can. He offered it to the thing and it carefully grabbed the can in its huge hand. The can disappeared and he heard some glugging, as its contents were emptied into some back part of the thing. Some of the whining settled down and it sounded quieter. Billy frowned, "Man, I don't know what you are, but I really wish I could bring you to show and tell!" He smiled, this was so cool! The machine looked at him, then settled down, closing its lit eyes.

Billy quietly left it alone, closing the shed door as he went back outside. He looked at the tracks again, in the lawn, scratching his head. He bent over and pushed at the crushed grass. He noticed a thin trail of more of that smelly oil. It smelled a little like the fresh oil he brought out, so he figured it was hungry for oil, like a robot. He started thinking about the robot from Lost in Space, his favorite TV show. Why didn't this one talk? He looked back at the shed, wondering if he should try to talk to it some more later, after it rested. Billy then realized he had a new friend who could teach those dumb Landry brothers a lesson. This idea made him laugh out loud a little. Wow, that would be something, seeing them pee themselves as they ran home to their mommy!

**CHAPTER V**

Billy woke up the next morning, his alarm clock clanging away. He slapped it off the desk and got up, groggily thinking of what today would bring. He then remembered his new friend, the weird robot. He went to the bathroom real quick and cleaned up a bit, before bounding out to the shed in the backyard. After making sure his mom didn't hear him, he quietly opened the shed door and entered. The machine was still sitting prone, still quiet. Billy almost thought of leaving when the eyes woke up, partially lighting the inside of the shed barn. The machine looked up then down at him, again gesturing to its neck. Billy wondered if he wanted to talk but couldn't. What would help a robot talk? Gears? Soldering iron? Wires? He wasn't sure, but spoke to the thing, "Will a soldering iron help, my dad left one in the spare bedroom." The head stopped and slowly nodded. Billy smiled, "Oh, good, then maybe you can talk huh?" He ran back to the house, finding an old soldering iron and some spools of solder in the guest room, where he remembered seeing them. His mom hadn't cleaned up much, maybe it reminded her of her dad too much, when he was still alive. Billy never liked thinking about his dad. He missed him so much. His dad had died in a crane accident in New York, where they used to live. They moved here to Indiana soon after the funeral, mostly to get away from the dangers of the big city. Billy had made a few close friends there, but waved goodbye, figuring he'd never make such good friends again. Billy choked a little, remembering all the painful memories from that time. Having his mom leave a spare bedroom full of his dad's tools didn't help. He mostly ignored that room, keeping the door shut. It was like a horrible shrine.

Billy ran back to the shed, almost dropping the iron. He found an outlet and plugged it in, then handed it to the robot. The thing brought up the strange device to its face, turning it back and forth, trying to figure out what it was. Billy sighed, "That's a soldering iron, you use it to… uh, well, to… you know, put wires together and junk like that!" The thing considered this for a moment, then touched the hot tip to his neck. It hissed but nothing happened. Billy looked at the rolls of solder in his hand, "Oh, yeah, you need this!" and handed him a roll. The machine turned the roll over in his giant hand, then shook it slightly, making an end work itself out. He set the end up to a break in his neck, and applied the hot iron. It sizzled and smoked slightly, making Billy wince, "Doesn't that hurt? No, wait you're a robot, right?" He frowned, why did it look like a man somewhat? The thing maneuvered the iron around, making a few spots sizzle then, it set the iron down. Billy unplugged it and looked up at the thing. It sat silent for a moment, then a new noise came out of it, a sort of vocal humming. The face contorted somewhat and a distorted voice warbled, "Th..th…this… is … a… uh…uh… t-t-t-t-t..-t-t-test…" It finally got the words out, sounding rather distorted and synthetic, like a harmonica that was trying to talk. Billy squinted, "Wow, you can talk… well sort of…"

The thing leaned forward a little bit, considering its words now that it could talk, "Wh-what year is it?" Billy frowned, "What?" The thing repeated its question. Billy looked around, "Are you dumb? I thought robots knew everything." The man machine tilted its head, "S-sorry, but I am l-l-l-lost!" it stuttered. Billy tried to console it, "I'm sorry, I didn't know, you were hurt. What happened to you?" The thing tilted its head the other way slightly, "I was be-e-e-e-eing hunted-d-d. I had to-o-o-o-o escape!" Billy's eyes got wide, "Who was hunting you? Who could hurt you? You're huge!" He looked at the spot where he saw leaking oil earlier, it was still leaking but not as much. "Do you need to be fixed? You're leaking a little still." The robot turned its head sideways, trying to look where the leak was, "I c-c-c-an't see where it's l-l-l-l-eaking. Can you help m-m-m-me?" Billy frowned, "Why are you talking funny?" The thing looked into Billy's eyes, "I am d-d-damaged, but healing. I am a C-c-c-centrix model 3407 Interrog-g-g-gator, submodel 414." The boy frowned, "What does all that mean?" The thing settled back a little, "It will take t-t-t-time for me to explain. P-p-please, I need to heal mo-o-o-ore… I am sorry, I had to es-s-s-scape, I had to!" He looked distraught and Billy placed a hand on his chest, "Please, it's ok! I won't let anyone hurt you. If you want to take another nap, that's ok, I'll leave you alone." The man machine lowered its head, "Thank Y-y-y-y-you!" Billy left the shed, closing the door, as the strange new friend quieted down and cycled into sleep mode, hopefully healing. Billy felt very sorry for him. Even someone as big as he is, and he's still getting picked on by bullies!

**CHAPTER VI**

A few days went by, and Billy kept secretly visiting the healing robot. He didn't say anything to anyone, including the new girl, well, if he had seen her again. She avoided him like the plague (cooties!) and he didn't care what the Landry boys did to him, he'd have his revenge soon enough. It was a week or so later, when he bumped into the girl, or rather she ran into him, literally. She was running down the hall, no idea why. Billy was knocked down and had to pick himself up off the floor. He started to yell at whoever was stupid enough to not watch where they were going, then went silent when he saw her scared eyes. Tammy grabbed him by the shoulders, "Please, you've got to help me, I don't know anyone else that well!" Billy looked at her, stunned. He started to ask what was up, but she grabbed him and ran down the hall to an empty room with the door open, "There's these three boys who keep bugging me to pay them my lunch money, and I'm scared, I don't have that much, what do I do? Can you help?" Billy looked at her, "You mean the Landry boys?" Tammy shrugged, starting to cry, "I-I don't know, they won't leave me alone. I'm sorry about what I said to you before, I kind of like you. Can you protect me, please?" Her eyes stared into his, wet and sad. Billy gulped, "I-I don't know, they do the same thing to me, but … well, um… I got a secret at my place, if you promise not to tell." She stopped, hesitant, "You're not trying to kiss me, are you?" Billy blushed, "Oh, uh, no, that's not…" he was interrupted by her face and lips connecting strongly with his. He went limp, his heart went into overdrive and he though of nothing but those soft lips against his. When Tammy pulled away, he fell to the floor.

Tammy squatted down next to him, "You ok?" Billy blinked, "Oh, woah, why did you do that? I was going to show you something else, not kiss you…" then realized that was the wrong thing to say. Tammy instantly lashed at him, "What!?! You don't want me!?!" Billy stammered, "No, I…" Tammy stopped and smiled, "Oh, do you have some new toy you want to show me?" Billy thought for a second, "Yeah, that's it, a new toy. You interested in seeing it?" She helped him up, "Sure, why not? I thought you were going to say some dumb alien or something."

Billy grinned, but decided to let her see for herself. After school, they carefully walked out the doors, after the main mob of kids left the building. The 3 Landry brothers were waiting for them near the front doors. They ran out, and got on the bus. One of the bullies tried to approach them in their seats, but the bus driver grabbed him gruffly by the nape of the neck and escorted him harshly off the bus, reprimanding him about being unwanted on THAT bus. The kids laughed for awhile, while Tammy held Billy's sweaty hands. He stared out the window, not knowing what to do. Was this a dream? He looked back and she was still staring at him, "That was great, thank you so much, Billy!" She kissed him on the cheek, making him blush some more.

They stopped at her stop, but she told the driver to keep going, it was over 2 miles from her place to Billy's. The other kids oohed at the two of them sitting together. Billy frowned and was embarrassed, but Tammy shouted out, "Hey, he's my guy, you got a problem, deal with me!" That shut them up, except for a few low snickers. The bus driver shrugged and closed the bus doors, going to the next stop. After 3 more stops, Billy and Tammy ran off the bus, heading for the front door. They entered, and of course, Billy's mom clamored all over him, with "Oh, my little Billy got a girl!", which embarrassed Billy to no end, but Tammy merely stopped and introduced herself to Billy's mom, "Yes, ma'am, I'm his girl, he saved me from some bullies, he's a hero!" Billy rolled his eyes, "No, I just ran away from them, like always…" His mom smiled and bent over to whisper in his ear, "Better listen to your girl there, Billy, you've already made her happy."

Billy laughed, "Oh, yeah, ok, mom. I .. um, wanted to show Tammy something out back, I'll do my homework in a moment, ok?" His mom smiled, "Sure honey, that's fine. I'll have supper done soon too." She smiled as they went out the back door. Billy thought she was silly and Tammy thought Billy had a real nice mom. The two went over to the shed, and Tammy noticed the worn smashed prints in the grass, "Uh, what happened here? Did you start a fire?" Billy grabbed her hand and she thought he was trying to kiss her, "Oh, Billy, you sneaky…" but was interrupted by his shushing, "Shh, now listen, what I show you is a secret, don'te tell anyone, ok? I found him out in the woods, he was hurt, but I think he's better now." Tammy's eyes went wide, "Did you find a deer?" but her mouth dropped open when Billy brought her inside, and a lumbering mechanical man woke up, training red-lit eyes on her. She started to scream, but Billy cupped his hand over her moutb, "Shhh, you promised!… It's ok, Tammy, he won't hurt you…" She looked wildly at him, and at this huge behemoth starting at her, and finally settled down and Billy slowly removed his hand. Tammy stammered, "What… what the hell is th-th-that?"

Billy looked at the man machine, "You want to tell her?" The thing spoke up, its voice clearer and somewhat louder, "I am a Centrix model 3407 Interrogator android, submodel 414, I went Renegade and I need help!" Billy looked up at him, "What's renegade?" Tammy put her hand to her mouth, "Billy, this thing is horrible to look at! I'm scared…" The android spoke up, "Renegade – 1 **:** a deserter from one faith, cause, or allegiance to another 2 **:** an individual who rejects lawful or conventional behavior." The head clicked, gears whirring, steam escaping. Billy and Tammy looked at each other. Billy asked "Where are you from?" The interrogator model looked at him, "What year is this? I am from the year 2412." The two kids nearly wet themselves at the same time, "What!? That's impossible, that's like.. the future!" Tammy started to leave, "Ok, I've had enough, this is a sick prank and I want to go home, goodbye…" but Billy grabbed her, "Promise me you won't tell anyone!" She shook her head, "Look, no one would believe me even if I did tell, so I won't, but this is very stupid, I never want to see you again, Billy!" She started to storm out, but the machine stood up, bumping its head against the ceiling, "Are you Tammy Witherspoon?" She stopped dead in her tracks, "How… how did you…?" Billy stared at her, then at the standing machine, "What's going on? How do you know her?"

The machine sat down, "She is a scientist in the year 2030. She invents a… well, I'm not allowed to say, it would interfere with the time-line, start a chaotic chain of events, possibly…" The machine looked down, maybe ashamed of blurting out a horrible secret from the future. Tammy kicked it in the leg, "Hey! What's going on? I still think this is a prank, but even Billy didn't know me 2 weeks ago, how did you know my name? I have no idea what's going on!" She fumed and walked out, leaving Billy alone in front of the ever-mysterious machine man thing. The boy shook his head, "This is getting weirder by the minute. So, she is a scientist in the future? I don't get it, how did you know her name?" The machine remained silent. Billy rapped his hand on its knee, "Hey, look I helped you, now you can help me, what's going on?"

The android looked him square in the eyes, "She invents a revolutionary form of symbiotic biomechanical life." Billy shakes his head, "What? What does that mean?" The thing continued to stare at him, "She invents a cross-breed of animal and mechanical life that works together. Her achievements are miraculous until the year 2100, when an evil new corporation used them to enslave entire populations, infecting them with this…" He held up his arm. Billy could see the veins and muscle tissue imbedded with wires, cords and small square and rectangular devices, many smaller than a coin. He squinted, "What is all that?" The android replied, "Those are nano-computers, tiny thinking machines, coordinated with my body parts that are left over. I am part man, part machine and cannot be separated, or I die!"

Billy felt his stomach churn, this was too much, "Ok, maybe we can have the army help or take you to a doctor, would that help?" The renegade android shook its head, "No, they cannot help me, you really cannot help me. I am safe as long as my captors do not discover what year I went to. Please make sure I do not go back, I would rather die!" Billy choked back tears, "Wow, is it that bad?" He could tell his answer from the sad red eyes of this new friend of his. Billy had to make a stand and figure out what to do!


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER VII**

Billy sat in his room for long moments, tossing ideas around, no idea how to tell anyone, if he dare. So, Tammy was a scientist in the future? That didn't make any sense! He didn't even know the name of his new friend from the future, "man-machine" was a horrible name to call him, he wasn't really a robot either. He thought about that for a moment, until his mom called him for dinner. Billy sighed and got up to hopefully eat, his stomach was in horrible knots over all this.

Billy's mom checked his forehead again, "Hmm, no fever, you sure you're ok, honey?" He looked up at his mom, "Oh, I'm fine, I guess, just worried about a new friend." His mom smiled, "Oh, is your girlfriend in trouble?" Billy frowned, "No, it's not her, not really. Mom, if someone told you something that seemed incredible, can it be true?" His mom frowned and bit her lip, "Depends on what it is. You want to share something with me?" The 11-year-old lowered his head, "I don't think you'd believe me even if I did, mom. Sorry!" He picked at his food and even mostly ignored some sweet chocolate pudding his mom placed in front of him. She chuckled, "Wow, you must be worried if you're turning down chocolate pudding. Listen, Billy, why don't you sit and think about what you can do for your friend, ok? If you need any help, you can always turn to me!" She smiled and he did too. He knew he could count on his mom!

Later, Billy ran out to the shed and hesitated before opening the door. He wanted the shed to be empty, to never have found that weird man-machine, to have never been told his new friend (he didn't want to call her girlfriend yet) was a weird scientist in the future. He sighed and slowly opened the door. The hulking organic walker was still dormant, but its red eyes slowly lit up at the door opening. It stared at Billy as he meekly approached it, "Um, I have a few questions, things that are bothering me. First, what do I call you? I hate thinking of you as 'man-machine' and you're not really a robot. Do you have a name?"

The cyborg considered this for a moment, silent whirring and pumping actions the only sounds coming from it, "Well, little Billy, I don't remember my name, sorry. All my personal information was wiped when I was 'converted'. However, I found a pretty colored berry out in the forest. Would "Barry" be an ok name?" It tried to smile, but the face was not designed for that anymore. The eyes lit up more in anticipation. Billy looked with his mouth open, "Wow, you are really neat! For a killer man-machine, you are so gentle. Sure, Barry it is." He smiled and patted the side of 'Barry's' side, feeling the cold metal under his palm. He sighed again, not sure how to ask the next question, "Um, my mom said she might help. Can I please show her to you? I doubt she'd believe me if I just told her about you, and she's a good person, I love her so much!"

Barry thought for a moment, "Well, I've already caused the possibility of messing up the past by telling a future scientist her future, so this would be acceptable!" Billy squealed in delight, "Oh, wow, thanks! Mom will freak when she sees you!" and he ran out. The machine considered that this was not something he wanted to do, but he needed help, in any way, shape or form.

CHAPTER VIII

Billy pulled and tugged at his mom's sleeve, begging and telling her how cool this was, his surprise. She kept stopping him, "Look, I know you're anxious about your friend, but I don't have time to check out any dead animal or stray cat you picked up, Billy!" He stopped and looked up at her, "But, mom, this is nothing you've ever seen before!" He pulled at her sleeve again and she pulled the sleeve out of his grasp, "Ok, just stop trying to rip my arm off, ok, champ?" He beamed and ran out to the shed, pointing at it, "It's in there!"

Billy's mom sighed and walked up to him, "Ok, look, you've been acting so weird these last few days, I hope this isn't a silly bug or something like that." She approached the shed, looking back at her son. He smiled, his eyes wide! She rolled her eyes, sighed again, and opened the shed. A strange noise met her ears and she almost didn't go inside, "What was that? Billy, did you steal someone's go-kart?"

Billy pushed her inside, "No, mom, you'll see!" The two nearly fell over inside the shed. The mother brushed herself off and looked up. Her mouth popped open, her eyes got really wide. She stared, dumbstruck, at a large mechanical "man", its eyes lit up like car tail lights. She almost fell over backwards, then remembered Billy was there with her, "Wha-wha-what is that, Billy?" The boy hugged her tight, "Don't worry, mom, he's scared and needs help. I promise he won't hurt you. I asked him if it was ok for you to see him and he agreed. Please, mom, can you help him?"

She trembled a bit, then slowly looked back at the huge cyborg staring down at her. Billy whispered in her ear, "His name is Barry. He thought of that after picking up a berry in the woods." The mother hesitated, looking at Billy, before daring to stare up at this strange creature, "Um, hi… uh, Billy tells me you're… well, you're hurt. I don't know if I can help, but I'd like to try…" She again looked at Billy. He mouthed out 'Barry' and she looked back, "Uh.. Barry?" The machine tilted its head, "Thank you very much, Mrs. Patterson." She blinked, "Well, he's rather polite, and to think I was scared.. hehe, well, can we help at all? You might need maybe a hospital, or… uh, well, maybe a car mechanic? I don't know, like Billy said, I've never seen anything like you. Where did you come from?"

Barry explained the time he was from, what happened and how he was damaged. Billy's mother took it all in, but had no idea where to start with any type of help. She might have believed it would rear up and destroy the town if it hadn't been sitting there so calmly. Something about its demeanor made her feel sorry for it. She blinked back a tear, "Well, Billy, I.. I don't know what we'll do, but we'll think of something." She looked back at the large being, "Um, do you want to come inside? I think you might fit through the doorway. I just hope nobody sees you, that could be a problem."

Barry pondered this for a moment, "I think it would be best if I remain here for now, thank you, ma'am!" Billy's mom smiled, a little embarrassed, "Well, I've never been called that before, especially by a.. uh, well, by a stranger as unique as you. Ok, you can stay here. If you need anything, we'll try to help, ok?" The cyborg tilted its head at her, "Thank you, you're very kind. I can see where young Billy gets his manners from." She chuckled, "Wow, Billy, you come up with the most interesting new friends. And here I was worried you wouldn't make any new friends!"

CHAPTER IX

Billy's mom, Helen, came back a few more times, sometimes to talk to Barry, other times to check the repairs and correct what Barry tried to fix and couldn't, due to not seeing what he was doing. The oil leak finally stopped altogether and the mess cleaned up. Billy finally discovered Barry could eat baby food, but not much else, since his digestive tract was so simplistic, and not much left of it. There was enough human flesh left to control the systems without using AI and not much else. This lone warrior's attitude was a fluke and he would be terminated because of it.

Helen asked Billy, "Where is your girlfriend?" Billy blushed, "Oh, she's not coming back. I introduced her to Barry and he told her that she invented some weird thing in the future that became those like him and Tammy freaked and ran out!" His mom sighed, "Oh, billy, what's going on? This is getting out of my hands. I'm about ready to call the military, but I'm afraid. What do I do?"

Billy looked at her, "I don't know, I thought the same thing, but they would take him away, and dismantle him, wouldn't they?" Helen shrugged, "I'm afraid so, honey. I know the military has to take apart what they don't understand. If they can't use it, they destroy it so others can't use. That's just the way the military of any country works. I'm sorry…." Billy blinked back a few tears, "I don't want to see Barry tore apart, he didn't do anything wrong. I don't want the military to get their greasy mitts on him!"

His mother hugged him tight, "Don't you worry, sweetie. We may have lost your dad, but we won't lose Barry, I promise. I just don't know what to do with him, he needs more help than I can provide. I doubt a hospital would know what to do with him. He's a walking life-support system. They'd be inclined to separate him from all that electronics and I'm afraid he'd die without it. That's how he was built." She cringed thinking of how he was put together and how much pain he must be in. He never indicated as such, but enough pain-killers pumping through your system can numb even the toughest agonies.

Helen tried not to dwell too long on that thought, biting her lip as she did. Billy looked at her, "You ok, mom? You look like you're thinking of something awful!" She smiled, "Never you worry, little man. We'll take good care of Barry, ok? I promise!" She held up her hand, like the President does when sworn in. Billy smiled. He loved his mom!

They brought back lots of different flavored baby food for Barry and some reading material, including Billy's textbooks and various magazines, reference books and newspapers. The cyborg pored through them all, scanning quickly, taking in all the data, analyzing what was happening in this time. His records were incomplete from before 2050, and even later records were spotty at best. He nodded at each batch and the books and papers piled up. Billy had to scoop up a bunch and stopped to wonder, "Um, Barry, how do you go to the bathroom? Um, if you don't mind me asking…" Barry tilted his head, "It's a little complicated. There isn't much waste, my systems are designed for optimum energy usage, but what little is wasted or left over is stored here." He pointed at a bulge on his left thigh, "This should be emptied. The gauge has been damaged, likely from the temporal displacement process."

Billy frowned, "What?" The large machine rephrased, "When I traveled back in time, Billy. I'm sorry, my databanks use rather scientific terms and I forget you're a human child." Billy smiled, "Oh, wow, that's so cool sounding. You must be really smart! I bet you never had to go to school!" Barry thought for a moment, "I don't remember anything from before I was converted, I'm afraid! Our previous memories are wiped clean, to ensure we don't go renegade. I rebelled not because of that, but because I felt that my existence in that time was wrong and I wanted to escape. You understand, don't you?" Billy lowered his head, "All too well, sometimes. When I'm in school, I want to escape and go play outside. I feel ashamed, I have it lucky compared to you. I'm so sorry what happened to you, Barry!" He came up and hugged the giant machine. One large arm came down slowly, gently patting his head, "It's ok, you had nothing to do with this. Neither did Tammy. I'm sorry I drove her away. I didn't mean to. Can I help you get her back? I think she means something to you."

The boy let a few tears slide out, "Yeah, I do like her. I don't know, Barry. I'll worry about that later. Thanks, anyways, you're a good friend!" Billy stayed there for awhile longer, then left for the night. The cyborg watched him leave, then his eyes dimmed and his system shut down for the night. He could barely hear the crickets outside, as well as a dog barking in the distance. A few cars rushed by, their noises shifting in pitch, up and down, depending on their direction. Soon, the cyborg knew no more, he was completely shut down for the night.

CHAPTER X

Morning came, bright and sunny. It was nearly 80 out. Barry felt the heat rise in the shed and his auto-thermal regulators kicked in, making a slight hum. It was almost 9 am, on a crisp Saturday morning. Billy and his mom went to the store to pick up more baby food. Hopefully, no one thought Helen had another baby, she didn't need that type of attention. The house was quiet. The machine slowly woke up, feeling slightly cooler.

He heard some distance footsteps, a cracking of a twig. Then voices. He remained still, hoping whoever it was would not find him. He listened and waited, and the voices got a little closer, a little louder, clearer, "Hey, Clem, we never got that Patterson punk back for ditching us. Want to trash his yard?" Laughter, a few more footfalls, more giggling, "Nah, I don't have any good rotten shit to throw around. We can steal something, he has to have something worthwhile in that stupid shed of his. Maybe a lawn mower, or some power tool we can use to damage his house with. That would be cool!" More laughter and closer footsteps.

The door slowly opened, creaking gently. Two boys entered, one after the other. They snuck in, looking around in the dim shed interior. They didn't notice the huge mechanical being sitting there at first, until the bigger Landry brother bumped into it, "Ow, what the fuck? Damn, what is this, a riding mower?" The younger brother approached, "I ain't never seen anything like this! It's all built funny. I seen a Zamboni that sorta look like this, but…." The two looked closer and Barry opened his eyes and swung an arm around, trying to shoo them away. The two brothers screamed together and ran, one tripping on the door frame and landing with a grunt outside. Steps quickly receded into the distance, a lot of screaming and yelling, some of "What was that?" and "How should I know?" and a little "We should tell Pa!" and soon it was quiet. The cyborg wondered if they would return, maybe with more adults. He wished he could go into the house, but he didn't want to risk being seen.

He finally decided he had to leave. He waddled forward, knocking the door off its frame. Without slowing down, he started lumbering for the woods, looking around for any nosy people who wondered what the sudden noise was. He almost got to the line of trees when two adults and the two boys returned. One of the adults had a baseball bat, the other a shotgun. They cried out, seeing the huge walking man-machine and ran faster towards him. The two boys ran to the edge of the yard and stopped, too scared to pursue any further.

The older adult, a white-haired man, had to be almost 70 but skinny and spry, yelled at him, waving the shotgun, "Stop! Or I'll shoot!" He paused to aim and fired a warning shot. The blast was deafening and echoed around the woods. The other man whirled the bat around, "Shoot at him again!" The shotgun was cocked and fired again, closer this time. The walking machine stopped and turned around, staring at the two men. They skidded to a halt, the shotgun going off at closer range. The blast of pellets struck a hose on his left arm and fluid started spraying out. A defensive system woke and target graphics overlaid his point of view, he was active! His internal computers calculated the trajectory and range of the closest target, the wielder of the hand weapon. He fired a short burst of assault ammo, hitting several scores on the human target, one stray bullet hitting the arm of the other man. The shotgun hit the ground, as did its holder. The other man ran, screaming, holding his arm, dribbles of blood on the ground behind him.

Barry stopped to see if the man was ok, his defensive systems had shut down. He hated that part of him that went into automatic when he was threatened or attacked. This man had no chance against his firepower and he knew it! He lumbered up to the prone adult and knelt next to him, looking over the poor man. The man was quiet, blood pooling around him. He looked almost dead, if not dead already. Barry didn't know what to do. He wanted to run, but he accidentally injured a man, may have killed him. He stood there, thinking for a few minutes, then decided he had to flee. He sadly looked at the slain man and turned around to run into the woods. He could hear sirens off in the distance, this wasn't good! Local authorities were all he needed now! He lumbered as quick as he could into the woods, hiding between two bushes and behind a tree. He noticed a leak of oil running from the prone man, leading his direction. They would find him!

CHAPTER XI

Barry finally decided he had to flee, get as far away from his new friend Billy and his nice mom. The cyborg finally got up and lumbered deeper into the woods. How to get away from the local authorities? He had to find a way to break up or stop his trail from giving him away. He kept lumbering, hoping to find a river perhaps. He lucked out and found a nice size roaring one. The sentinel examined the leaking wound. It was merely tipped, a small leak, and already healing up. He rotated the arm around, looking at all sides, for any addition damage, but saw none. Barry wandered in the river, trudging across its mighty width.

He heard commotion far behind him. He quickly waddled across the river and sought shelter on the other side. The trail of oil diminished and finally stopped, allowing him to disappear better. He surmised even if they used bloodhounds, or something that can hunt for scent, they would have trouble discerning his scent, it's unique and rather confusing. Barry settled down behind a large tree, next to a thick bush for cover. He settled down, his lights dimming, setting his sensors on active alert, while he rested.

Billy and his mom came home to find a large mass of people milled around his house. Several police cars and two ambulance, as well as a fire truck were all parked out front, blocking the driveway. Helen slammed the brakes on, parking the car down the street. She looked at Billy with frantic eyes, "Oh, gosh, I wonder if someone found Barry? I hope he's ok. He may be large and imposing, but with that many people around, they might try to hurt him!" Billy and his mom quickly got out of the car and headed around back, towards the woods. They kept away from the swarm of cops and other citizens, who were talking to the cops. Billy saw 2 EMTs handle something in a black body bag, "Mom, look, someone's been hurt!"

Helen gasped, holding her hand over her mouth, "Oh, wow, I wonder who it was. I hope they're ok." She knew if that was really a body bag she was looking at from this distance, they weren't. Her heart felt heavy, feeling sad for whoever that was. She soon heard the sirens of an ambulance taking off, going down the street, "Billy, we have to find Barry, see what happened!"

Billy ran ahead of his mom, "I know, mom, I know!" The two bolted into the woods deeper, looking around. Billy spotted a dried trail of oil, "Mom, look! He's leaking again!" Up ahead, they could hear the trampling of cops and the baying of bloodhounds. Helen wondered whether they could track him or not, "You think he got away?" Billy shrugged his shoulders as he ran, "I-I don't know, I hope so!"

They wandered to the east a good half a mile, before finding the river. The two found a small trail bridge and crossed it, looking everywhere, hoping they wouldn't be found themselves. They had no time for interrogations from the police. Billy started to really worry, "How are we going to find him, mom? Maybe he can turn invisible. I never asked if he could do that. I'm sorry…" Helen put her hand on his shoulder, "You didn't know this was going to happen!"

They came across an abandoned cabin out in the deep woods and entered. Nothing was in there, but some moldy furniture and cans lay everywhere. Billy looked out a broken window, "I guess he's not here. How much farther should we go? I'm getting hungry." Helen paused to look out the window, "I'm sorry, I was going to get you something to eat. Will you be ok for awhile?" The boy grimaced, listening to his stomach growl, "I'll try, mom."

CHAPTER XII

The machine sat inert for at least an hour, it figured, before coming to life. The noises from earlier settled down. Barry wondered where Billy and his mom were, he could use their help. He ventured a quick scan of the area, uncertain if any movement would attract attention. A few birds answered his motion and that was it. He slowly got to his feet, looking for any movement, human size or equivalent. A tree got in his way and he slowly moved around it, proceeding… well, he wasn't sure where he was going, southeast was the compass direction.

The cyborg wandered forward for a good half a mile or so, before the trees thinned out a bit. He stopped to look ahead, noting for more humans who might freak and turn him in. He didn't want to be dismantled or … well, it didn't matter what happened to him anymore. He was more concerned for the small Patterson family, Billy and his friendly mom. He slowly proceeded, eventually seeing a moderate road with a few cars zipping back and forth. When the coast seemed to be clear, Barry stomped across the concrete road and tripped, tumbling down an embankment on the other side. He rolled a few times, lost his bearings, before crashing into a clump of dirt, taking out a pair of small trees. He sat, upside-down and disoriented, for long moments, wondering if he was going to be caught, but realized after awhile, it was still quiet, except for a few birds.

The large man-machine finally got to his feet and hunkered down, looking around, scanning the area. He decided he might be safe here for the moment, maybe he can locate Billy again, he didn't know. At least he wasn't being hunted or pursued for the moment. He needed to shut down anyways, his systems were running at full capacity and needed charging. He took a chance and settled down and allowed himself to shut down completely.

After an hour, listening to his stomach growl, Billy couldn't take it anymore, "Mom, we gotta go. I miss Barry and I want to go home or something. I'm sorry…" Helen looked back at him, "It's ok, sweetie. I'm a little scared too. I guess we could try and backtrack to the house, see if it's cleared, maybe say we didn't know what was going on. We weren't there when all this happened, maybe we can buy some time for your new friend."

The two left the abandoned cabin. It was getting darker out, they had no lights or anything to work with, so they slowly made their way back to a familiar trail and went from there. Billy hit a large rock with his foot and yelped in pain. Helen put her hand over his mouth, "Shh, be quiet, we don't want to attract any unwanted attention out here."

Billy restrained himself, and whispered, "Sorry, but that hurt my foot. I'll be quiet, I promise!" Helen leaned over and kissed him on the cheek, "I'm glad to see you're being brave about all this. Why don't you be that brave man and lead me out of here. I'm not sure where we are." Billy took her hand, "It's ok, mom, I know. We can head that way." He pointed to their right slightly. They proceeded forward, as it got darker. It was almost an hour, before they reached a neighbor's backyard, maybe a block from their house.

Billy ran up to the fence, "Look, see, mom, we're almost home. It's pretty quiet now. Maybe we can sneak in before anyone sees us." His mom followed behind, "Whew, I'm glad we're almost home. Let's see if we can find the car first, ok?" Billy turned around and nodded. He ran across the deserted yard and out to the front of the house.

He saw two police cars and an ambulance down the street, and before he could say anything, the ambulance headed his direction, no sirens going. Billy saw their car, still parked where they left it. The 1968 Chrysler Imperial sat with the doors still wide open, the interior lights still glowing dimly in the evening dark. Helen ran over, hoping to be able to still start the car. The engine turned over very slowly, but eventually caught, roaring to life. Billy and his mom both sighed a relief. Helen carefully drove back to their driveway, happy to see it empty of vehicles. A lone police car caught their car entering the drive and stopped, the lights coming on. Billy could feel the lump in the pit of his stomach, but his mom motioned him, "Shh, let me do the talking."

A single white cop approached, flashlight in hand, "Excuse me, ma'am, I need to ask you some questions." Helen stared into the light, "Sure, officer, but that light is rather bright!" The officer lowered the flashlight, "Oh, sorry. Um, we had an incident, someone was killed and another man was injured. Do you know who lives here?" Helen blinked, "Well, I do, officer. What happened?"

The cop looked back, talking into his handset, "Yes, ma'am, of course. We aren't sure of all the details, but the hurt man was babbling on about a large tank thing that walked, and he told us his partner shot it and it shot back. There were rounds, high-caliber, recovered from the scene. Do you know if the Army has been doing any testing in this area? We weren't alerted as such!"

Helen nodded, "No, I don't, sorry. We were gone to the store and just got back. I'm sorry to hear about that man being killed, is the other man ok?" The cop shrugged, "As far as I know, yeah. Ma'am, for your protection, please stay indoors. We've set up a temporary curfew until we can figure out what happened. If you hear or see anything, please let us know, ok?" The officer handed her a card with the police phone number on it.

Billy's heart was pounding but he didn't say anything until the cops left, "Mom, do you think Barry did this? That doesn't sound like him!" Helen looked back at him, a worried look on her face, "I don't know, dear. Maybe we can go look for him tomorrow, when the sun's up." Billy hugged his mom, "Thank you, mom!" She smiled, her son showed real loyalty to a friend in need, she was so proud of him!

CHAPTER XIII

The warm sunlight and a skittering squirrel woke up the cyborg. The eyes lit up, quiet whirring noises emanating from within as Barry came back on-line, his systems going over any damaged components. The arm that was hit yesterday seemed to be mostly healed up, about 92% complete with repairs. The man-machine slowly rose up, wondering if it could find the way back to the boy's house. He tried to backtrack, across the narrow road, across the raging river, then finally finding a different house, where he approached from the backwoods.

He scanned for the familiar house, found it 3 houses to the north. He kept his sensors alert for any activity, then made his way to the Patterson residence. When he got there, he tried throwing a small rock at the back wall, making a little noise, to see if anyone was there and maybe looking for him. Barry tossed a 2nd then a 3rd rock, before the bedroom window opened and little Billy looked out, amazed. He whispered fairly loudly, "You made it back! Wow, are you ok?" Barry tried to read his lips, but was unable to. He gestured dumbly and Billy finally figured he would come out back to talk to him.

Helen's face showed up at the back glass door, a big smile on her face. The boy quickly slid the door open and ran out to where Barry sat. The two carefully headed over to the shed, but some commotion out front drew Billy's mom inside. She was surprised to find two black panel trucks out front, one said "S.W.A.T." on the side, the other "F.B.I." along with 4 police cars and a Sheriff's wagon. Sirens wound up and down and the place was lit under blinking swirling lights. A man with a megaphone screamed out a warning, "We know the culprit is located at this address. We've tracked him down using a radio frequency he seems to be using for transmissions.

Billy heard the muffled warning, "Are you talking to someone on the radio?" The cyborg looked down at him, "I think he refers to my radar systems, some of the subsystems use radio frequency to keep my systems alert to the electronic environment." Billy really didn't know what that meant, but figured he wasn't spying or anything like that. A small legion of armed troops swarmed into the backyard, assault rifles up and ready! They circled the shed, demanding all occupants come out with their hands up.

Billy slowly came out, hands up. He was scared, you could see it in his face. The dark blue armored men holding guns at him didn't help at all! He got out and hit the ground hard as the shed door was knocked off its' hinges. The large cyborg lumbered out and the SWAT team immediately opened fire on him, bullets ricocheting wildly, taking out windows, leaving small pits in trees, as well as small holes in the shed itself. Barry stuttered and lumbered backwards, finally falling on his back.

Billy tried to scream, but the gunfire drowned him out. Helen started to head out the back door, but was held down by two SWAT specialists. They held a gun to her head and cringed, seeing the gunplay in the backyard, so close to the house. The large man-machine finally swung an arm around, letting loose with a small rocket and dozens of rounds of ammo. Most went off into the sky, but a few of the armed soldiers were taken down. The rocket slammed into the back corner of the house, knocking out a large hole. Bricks went everywhere and smoke lingered while the SWAT team waited for the signal to fire again.

Barry stuttered, his systems flailing, unable to get back up, large puddles of oil and blood pooling under him. The SWAT team waited to fire as Billy got up and ran over to hug the cyborg. He cried a lot, his eyes red in no time. The two in the house let Helen go and she immediately ran to hug her son. The Sheriff slowly approached the three, one huge cybernetic creature, two average people, and he felt some pity for them. He signaled and the SWAT team lowered their rifles and a pair of EMTs were quickly called in.

Billy was harshly pulled away by a cop as one of the EMTs tried to read his vitals. His puzzled look told the others he was rather stumped how to even do that. Barry spoke, his voice trailing off, "P-p-p-pplease, I need to speak to the boy, it is urgent, I don't have much time…" The paramedic signaled Billy over, "He says he wants to tell you something, kid!"

The boy came over, still sobbing. The large damaged cyborg tried to speak, but his stuttering got worse, "Please, Billy, please don't let them dismantle m-m-m-me, I want to d-die. I am free, I don't wa-a-a-a-ant to go back to confin-n-n-n-nement. I want to tell you Thanks, Billy, before I self-terminate!" Billy cried, "No! We can fix you, I don't want you to go, please, don't do this!" However, the large hulking machine adjusted a few switches internally and the eyes went dim. The face lolled and went limp, the arms went down, forever silent. The internal whining noises slowed down and ceased. The EMT ran over and tried to use his paddles on the chest area, but he got no response.

Helen hugged Billy, "I told you, without those computers keeping him alive, he can't live. He chose this, Billy. Be thankful he considered you a friend!" The boy hid in his mom's shirt and bawled loudly as more cops came in to talk to the Sheriff and file reports. It was over! They did their duty, and now time to clean up the mess and try to answer a lot of questions. The questions would not end for a long time for Billy or his mom. They answered the best they could, for the next six months, all the stupid repetitive questions. All the stares were ignored. Finally, Tammy showed up and hugged Billy, "I heard he died, I'm so sorry I ran off. I know he was a good person!" Billy looked back at her, "Yes, he was, an amazing friend who came back in time to be free and he was!"


End file.
